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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Double Feature: Anatomy of a Psycho/Lonely Sex (Vinegar Syndrome)

It’s becoming clear to me that the releases from Vinegar Syndrome are assuming a pattern of sorts. They seem to play to a particular sub genre, era or style of film. Speaking of the double feature discs, we’ve mostly seen sexploitation, kung-fu, thriller and true crime features, the last of those is the subject of our review today. Anatomy of a Psycho/Lonely Sex are on the docket today.

To be fair, these two movies don’t exactly appeal to be my personal taste. Yes, they are exploitation features, but they seem to have a true crime element to them whether real or perceived and aside from the 50’s style pulp artwork, true crime doesn’t do it for me. To those of you who enjoy that style of movie, movies where convicted murders exact revenge and where kidnapped women are forced into solitude in lonesome shacks, well… this could work for you. Previous Vinegar Syndrome releases seemed to play to my libido or my sadistic evil side. Alas, this did not.

Anatomy of a Psycho feels lonely and bleak, but with that 50’s sense of filmmaking that still let’s you know that you’re watching a movie; a dramatization of real life and not reality. You can sit through some dull moments waiting for the tension to burst. This movie is idyllic for the Johnny Cash, stuck in Folsom Prison type with an unquenchable thirst for swallowing one's own self pity (and not wallowing in).

Lonely Sex has a strange little premise. Kidnap her and take her to the woods I say, but it's as slow as Anatomy of a Psycho. I don't have the patience for movies of this type and despite some great shot set ups I'm left waiting for the movie to pop. It doesn't. It's simply not that type of a movie. It's, again, more about the tension.

Both movies look fantastic. The Drive-In double features continue to get that right, releasing movies you may not have heard about, preserving them and giving eyes a new chance to view them. Scant on the features and separated into reels, these mirror exactly what you’ve come to expect from V.S. Fine releases.

You can pick them up at DiabolikDVD HERE and make sure to visit the Vinegar Syndrome page HERE to see what they’ve been putting out including some of the best damn Blu-ray releases of the year (I’m looking at you Massage Parlor Murders and The Telephone Book).

From the bowels and brains of American International to the rib cage and eye sockets of Amicus, Doc Terror will write your eyes shut from the prehistory to the post apocalypse of horror.Doc Terror is a contributor to The Liberal Dead and The Dead Air Podcast.